Frederick Maryland Online

I noticed today that there are two new signs along Rte. 355 for a new shopping center, scheduled for fall of 2009 (they finally took down the signs that said fall, 2007).  One sign is across the street from May’s Restaurant and the other one is across the street from Office Depot.  Does anyone have any information on what is going in there?   What would you like to see go in there?   We certainly don’t need any more office/school supply stores or home improvement stores or craft stores on this side of town.  It’s probably not considered residential enough to support a grocery store but one would be nice over there.  Personally, I prefer the open space myself.

Lizfrog

Nice call Mika!

From the FNP:

The Value City store at Francis Scott Key Mall will close, along with all but one VC store in Maryland.

Kristin Mack, a spokeswoman for VCHI in Columbus, Ohio, said the only store remaining open would be in Annapolis.

“They are winding down,” she said of the seven other stores. “They will be closing in the next six to eight weeks.”

Stores in Cumberland and Greenbelt also are closing, while four stores have been acquired by Burlington for retail locations.

Mack did not have any figures on Wednesday on how many employees would be affected at the Frederick location or other that will close.

VCHI is an equity firm that purchased 81 percent of Value City, she said.

William DeTora, manager of FSK Mall, declined to say what business would be taking over the site to be vacated by Value City.

Lizfrog

Frederick Maryland Online reader, Mika offers some news about Frederick’s other mall, FSK:

Just thought I’d drop by with some info on FSK Mall.

Suncoast is now gone, Yankee Candle will soon be replacing them.

Where Waldenbooks and the furniture store used to be, Charlotte Russe (teen girl clothing store) is moving in.

Just Plain Good has been out for quite a while now but Maui Wowi (Hawaiian coffee and smoothies)is going in but they’ve been under construction for at least two months, so I have no idea when they’ll open. They’re certainly taking their sweet time.

I also hear tell that Value City is trying very hard to close. They’re the only store in FSK Mall that actually owns their building so even though the mall has been kicking lower class stores out, they weren’t able to do anything to Value City. Apparently though, Value City just isn’t making enough money to stay open. There’s a rumor that they’ll be replaced by Old Navy, we can only hope.

Thanks for the tips Mika!

~Guy~

I got a Borders Rewards email today saying that the Waldenbooks in Frederick Towne Mall (a.k.a. the ghost mall) will be closing on January 26th. The email also said they are having a clearance sale with everything 40% off. Not sure if that is just for Border Rewards members, but you can call ( 301.663.8277) and see before you head over.

~Guy~

They have rescheduled the meeting to the 23rd.

Based on the feedback received and the anticipated attendance, we have decided to reschedule the Residents Focus Group for Wednesday January 23rd, 6:30pm at City Hall in Room 212.

Again, our goal is to have a group of 10-12 City residents to participate in a focus group-format discussion on the retail mix within downtown Frederick. This will be followed in early February by a larger format Community Meeting, on a date still TBD. A final report with recommendations will then go to the Mayor and Board of Aldermen at a workshop in late February or early March.

We’ll be sure to keep everyone informed, and appreciate your assistance in keeping your neighbors informed as well. Thanks for your interest and hope to see you on January 23rd.

Best regards,

Heather Gramm

Heather Gramm, CEcD

Business Development Specialist

The City of Frederick Economic Development

101 N Court Street, Frederick, MD 21701

Phone 301-600-6362 or Fax 301-600-6363

hgramm@cityoffrederick.com

Frederick: A Great American Business Destination

Fungusblogs

I received this email from the city today and wanted to share it with others:

If you could send the email below to the NACs in an effort to bring together a focus group on downtown retail and the topic of national/independent retail, that would be greatly appreciated. We would like a cross-section of residents from across the City. Also, I realize that it’s quick notice to meet this Thursday - if you don’t get a good response, we could also hold the meeting on Wednesday January 23rd, same time and place.

Good afternoon,

The City of Frederick Department of Economic Development and the Downtown Frederick Partnership have teamed up to explore the future of retail in Downtown Frederick. Through an extensive community outreach initiative, we are seeking input from a broad range of audiences through a variety of resources to determine what people love most about downtown; what they least like; what they want to see more of in downtown; and their opinions regarding the mix of national retail and independent merchants within Downtown.

The first 2 phases of this outreach are complete. During November and December DED and the Partnership collected over 1,000 responses to an online survey from people throughout Frederick County and the region and interviewed 315 customers on the sidewalks of Downtown. Our next phase is a series of focus groups, and we need your help.

Please join us on Thursday January 10th at 6:30pm for the Downtown Retailers focus group. The focus group will be held at City Hall, in meeting room 212.

Through this effort we hope to delve into the more complex, in-depth reasoning behind the results of the surveys. This is a critical piece of this effort and we hope that you will be able to participate. Please respond to this email at your earliest convenience with whether or not you can attend, or call me directly at 301-600-6362.

Best regards and happy New Year,

Heather

Heather Gramm, CEcD

Business Development Specialist

The City of Frederick Economic Development

101 N Court Street, Frederick, MD 21701

Phone 301-600-6362 or Fax 301-600-6363

hgramm@cityoffrederick.com

Frederick: A Great American Business Destination

Fungusblogs

I’ve been curious about this particular question for quite a while and thought I’d throw it out to all of you. What are your criteria for grocery shopping? The reason I ask is that, when we lived in the Lake Linganore area back in the early ’90’s, the only choices we had for groceries was either to go to Safeway in Mt. Airy or Food Lion/Safeway in Walkersville. Then we lived in Riverwalk, in the north end of Frederick City and we had plenty more options for grocery stores. I was particularly fond of County Market when it was in the 7th Street Shopping Center.

For certain reasons, I’ve been grocery shopping at the Super Wal-Mart on the way home from my job in Frederick. The produce section seems a bit suspect, but the canned-frozen-paper-dairy sections seem more reasonable than any other mass grocery store in the area. Yet I find myself going to the Giant in Urbana for the convenience of it being about 4-5 miles from my house. So here are my questions;

Do you shop based on prices of the goods? Convenience? Both? What is your favorite grocery store in the area? Or are you biding your time before Wegman’s comes to town? (I lived in Rochester NY for 4 years…believe me when I tell you I understand).

Lizfrog

I just wanted to do a quick follow-up on the whole debate on chains in downtown Frederick by letting you all know that the survey I mentioned in that post is now available on the City of Frederick’s website.  This is your chance to let your opinions be counted!

Lizfrog 

Walkinpatty asked a question the other day over on the discussion board, wondering about what happened to Lonestar Steakhouse, by FSK Mall. I have a sort of answer now. I talked to one of the bartenders at Houlihan’s tonight and she said that Lonestar has been closed for about two weeks. Something about new owners and wanting different tenants for the building. Don’t quote me on that though, because I’m not sure if that’s the correct reason. Just what I heard.  If you know any more and can share it, please leave a comment.

Speaking of FSK Mall though, have you tried to drive through there lately? I could be wrong, but I thought all the road construction was supposed to be done by Black Friday, which is less than two weeks away. I think it will be nice once it’s done, but the construction seems to be taking a long time. Actually, what seems to be happening is more like deconstruction, rather than construction.

Lizfrog

It’s hard to believe it’s almost November already! Here’s some things that are upcoming during another busy month in our county.

Every Friday night, enjoy the sunset while listening to local musicians at Elk Run Vineyards in Mt. Airy. Everyone is invited to bring an instrument and join in! Wine tastings are available as well.

Also on every Friday in November at 7 and 8 PM, enjoy the Schifferstadt Spirits Tour at the Schifferstadt Architectural Museum.

Get started on that Christmas shopping at the Delaplaine Visual Arts Education Center. On November 3rd, from 12-6 PM, local artists and crafts people will display and sell their wares.

Enjoy the Maryland Christmas Show at the Frederick Fairgrounds. The dates are November 23-25, and November 30-December 2. Hours are Friday and Saturday, 10-6 and 10-5 on Sundays. About 500 artists and craftspeople will be exhibiting items from jewelry to quilts, furniture to pottery, all for your Christmas shopping pleasure!

Welcome in the holiday season at the Kris Kringle Procession on November 30th. Starting at 6:30 in downtown Frederick, the parade winds through town and ends in Baker Park, where the mayor will light the city’s Christmas tree.

Ride the train with Santa on the Walkersville Southern Railroad on November 24th and 25th (and some dates in December as well) at 11, 1 and 3:00. Santa rides on each train and spends time with all the children.

For a more complete list of events, check out the calendar of events at the Frederick County Tourism website. And, as always, let us know about any other events in the comments!

Lizfrog